Friday, 4 November 2011

The Session #57: Guilty Pleasures

Guilty pleasures
are wonderful things. There's a simplicity to them which makes you feel like
you've misbehaved at the back of the classroom or stolen a biscuit while your
mum isn't looking. It's a big bowl of pink Bird's trifle, fish fingers and oven
chips on a Friday night, a bag of pick n mix at the cinema. It's being a kid
whilst being an adult.

With beer it's
different. It requires a grown up approach because there's no link to
childhood. It’s then about doing the things you probably shouldn't and taking a
lot of simple pleasure out of it.

For me that means
one thing: drinking a beer straight from the bottle. Cold from the fridge, the
crown cap is flicked off and the glass middle-man is left out, favouring the
direct route. It makes beer feel different, feel naughty, like I'm a poorly
behaved beer geek.

It’s not for every
bottle and every beer. 500ml handfuls are not cool, bombers or 750s just make
you look like a desperate alcoholic, bottle-conditioned beers get a bit roughed
up and strong beer just feels like driving too fast in the opposite direction, but
330s of lager or pale ale are perfect. Forget the glass, the swirls and the
sniffs, take it straight from the fridge, a kiss of the bottle opener and then
one on the lips.

And even better
than bottles? Beer straight from the can. What's your guilty beer pleasure?